All of Whoville will have to wait till 2018 to see the remake of the Dr. Seuss classic…

Universal has just announced that the animated remake of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, in which it has partnered with Illumination Entertainment, has been delayed by a year. It was originally set to release on November 10th 2017, but has been shunted back to November 9th 2018. No reason has been given, but we’d wager it just wouldn’t be ready in time.

Benedict Cumberbatch, who showed us just how irredeemably evil he can sound as the voice of Smaug in The Hobbit trilogy, will voice the eponymous green grouch who is bent on making Christmas vanish by stealing every last candy cane. Pete Candeland and Yarrow Cheney will co-direct, with Michael LeSieur adapting the screenplay, Audrey Geisel (the wife of the late Dr Seuss) and Chris Renaud executive producing, and Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy and Scott Mosier are co-producing.

Following Illumination’s formula for hyper-colourful and wildly successful CGI-animated Seuss films The Lorax and Horton Hears A Who (the latter of which many Illumnination staff worked on) the new Grinch will stay true to the story. It will return to the three-act format used by its Boris Karloff-narrated predecessor, and won’t be further complicated by bizarre subplots (such as the Grinch’s unrequited love for his junior-high crush). Like the Once-ler in The Lorax, though, expect the fleshing out of previously vague characters like Cindy Lou Who.